Thursday, January 22, 7 PM: Bob Welch, 50 Years an Oregon Author, Presents his Latest Book, “Writer: How to craft nonfiction stories that touch your readers' hearts, souls & funny bones”
Reading, Book Talk, Q & A, Signing
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After more than half a century of award-winning nonfiction writing and two decades of leading Oregon's Beachside Writers Workshop, Bob Welch finally shares the secrets to writing that will help you leave your readers changed forever. Writer is unlike any other book on the craft, blending the mental side of the craft with practical, fingers-on-the-keyboard steps to painting with words. The book is sprinkled with the author's trademark touches of heart, humor and hope. Fun, feisty and philosophical, Writer will stretch any nonfiction writer, especially those new to the craft, with ideas, approaches and advice not found elsewhere. From the myth of writer's block to the wonder of showing instead of telling, Welch shares the concepts that helped him become a two-time winner of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' "Best Writing" award, helped him write the 2019 Book of the Year (as chosen by Track & Field Writers of America) and helped him become an Oregon Book Award finalist. Welch, a former (Eugene, Ore.) Register-Guard columnist and adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, breaks his book into seven parts: Mindset, Obstacles, Tools, Gather, Write, Genres and Process. The result is a tour de force filled with hundreds of examples of his own writing and the writing of others. It includes photos, graphs - even breakdowns of his own columns, why he wrote them as he did. As the author of the popular Heart, Humor & Hope Substack column, Welch offers a personal style that reflects his "respect the reader" approach to writing. A former National Writers Workshop presenter, he views Writer as a culmination of a lifetime of learning about the craft he loves.
Bio: Welch, Bob
BOB WELCH is the author of more than two dozen books, including American Nightingale, an Oregon Book Award finalist and featured on ABC's "Good Morning America"; The Wizard of Foz, Track & Field Writers of America's 2019 Book of the Year; Saving My Enemy: How Two WWII Soldiers Fought Against Each Other and Later Forged a Friendship That Saved Their Lives; and Cross Purposes: One Believer's Struggle to Reconcile the Peace of Christ with the Rage of the Far Right.A longtime columnist at The Register-Guard in Eugene, he twice won the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' "Best Writing" category, once for general columns and once for humor.Welch worked at The Register-Guard full-time from 1989 to 2013. He earlier worked at The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon (1976-1983) and The Journal-American in Bellevue, Washington (1983-1989).He is the author of the popular weekly Substack column, "Heart, Humor & Hope."Articles of his have appeared in numerous magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Reader's Digest and Los Angeles Times.Welch is founder/director of the Beachside Writers Workshop and is a former adjunct professor at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication. He is a 1976 graduate of the school.Welch speaks from coast to coast, inspiring audiences on topics related to his books.He lives in Eugene with wife Sally.